In our previous series “Looking into the Secret Scrolls of Daito-ryu”, we investigated the technical evolution of Daito-ryu and its influence on Aikido. We saw that Daito-ryu probably started with Takeda Sokaku in 1899, and that there were two Daito-ryu Jujutsu scrolls from the beginning, hiden mokuroku, and hiden okugi.

In this article series, we delve into the secret scrolls of Daito-ryu in search of the hidden roots of Aikido. Thus far, we have summarized the technical content of the first and second transmission scrolls, the hiden mokuroku and the hiden okugi no koto, and we highlighted the techniques that later became fundamental in Aikido. We also explored the evolution of Takeda Sokaku’s Daito-ryu Jujutsu curriculum in the 1900s and 1910s, which Ueshiba Morihei studied from 1915 in Hokkaido.

In this article series, we are investigating the secret scrolls of Daito-ryu in our quest to better understand the origin of Aikido. From the beginning, when Takeda Sokaku started teaching Daito-ryu Jujutsu in 1899, there existed two scrolls, the hiden mokuroku and the hiden okugi no koto, and  Ueshiba Morihei received both of them in 1916. In the previous articles, we  summarized the technical content of these scrolls and highlighted some techniques that later became foundational in Aikido. We also explored the evolution of Sokaku’s Daito-ryu Jujutsu curriculum in the 1900s and 1910s and saw its influence on the subsequent Aikido curriculum. 

In this article series, we are investigating the secret scrolls of Daito-ryu, looking for the hidden roots of Aikido. In the first three parts, we have been focusing on the first scroll, Daito-ryu jujutsu hiden mokuroku (大東流柔術秘傳目録). In Part 1, we analyzed its technical content and identified techniques that later became basic techniques in Aikido. In Part 2, we focused on the lineage written in the scrolls as well as the origin story of Daito-ryu as it was told by Takeda Sokaku. In Part 3, we investigated Takeda Sokaku’s basic Daito-ryu curriculum and saw how it has developed in modern Daito-ryu and Aikido circles.

In this article series, we are investigating the secret scrolls of Daito-ryu looking for the hidden roots of Aikido. In Part 1, we analyzed the technical contents of the first scroll, hiden mokuroku, and identified techniques that later became basic techniques in aikido. In Part 2, we focused on the lineage written in the scrolls as well as the origin story of Daito-ryu as it was told by Takeda Sokaku.

Event though the extent of the technical curriculum of some martial arts schools can be quite extensive, fellow koryu practitioners often express surprise at how large that of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu is in particular, with its self-advertised total of 2,884 techniques. We recently set out to conduct an in-depth analytis of the various Daito-ryu certificates and subsequently scrolls and it is indeed quite a job, so naturally, one can legitimately wonder how the Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu school ensures the efficient transmission of such an behemot of a curriculum.

Koryu scrolls are quite consistent in their format and the last section usually consists in the lineage of the school they are issued from, demonstrating the continuity and authenticity of the transmission. Daito-ryu scrolls are no exceptions. As a student of Takeda Sokaku, Ueshiba Morihei received and handed out Daito-ryu scrolls to his students before the war, but also after the war, albeit with slight modifications. Consequently, the study of these scrolls is of great interest from an Aikido perspective too. In this article, we are going to investigate the lineage described in all Daito-ryu scrolls and highlight some of the modifications that were made over time. We will study the origin story of Daito-ryu as told by Sokaku himself and how it was reinterpreted in the Aikido circles in the later years.

In a previous article, we proposed for the first time a detailed analysis of the top certificates that were awarded by Takeda Sokaku to his students, showing that at several points in time, a number individuals could legitimately claim that they had been taught the full extent of Takeda's curriculum. In this follow up series of articles, we would like to focus not on the certificates, but on the scrolls that Sokaku awarded. This constitutes to the best of our knowledge the most extensive comparative analysis available publicly on the subject at this point.

In the koryu world, the term menkyo kaiden (免許皆伝) is often understood as “license of full transmission”, where it designates the highest level of exposure that an individual can receive in a certain martial tradition. In practice, menkyo kaiden is awarded by a teacher to one or a limited number of students, signifying that the teacher has taught everything he knows.

I have written extensively about the two schools of Daito-ryu to which I belong, the Takumakai from Osaka and the Shikoku Hombu from Wakimachi. Throughout the years, whenever I talked to an instructor of one or the other groups, one name came up more than that of any other, that of Makita Kan'ichi. Though Makita died well before I ever got into Daito-ryu, as I became more knowledgeable, I came to realize and appreciate the central role that he had in establishing connections between different Daito-ryu schools. In this article, I would like to present information I was able to gather about him. It is to my knowledge the only account of his life available in the English language.

Kobayashi Kiyohiro is an 8th dan instructor of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu. He was a close student of Hisa Takuma and serves as the manager of the Takumakai, the organisation that Hisa's students created to carry on his teachings. My last interview with him dates back to 2011 and it dealt specifically with the group he is running in Tokyo. As a consequence, a more in-depth discussion about his substantial experience of Aikido and Daito-ryu was overdue.

Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu (大東流合気柔術) is usually thought of as a koryu, one of Japan’s ancient martial arts schools, but unfortunately, its origins are far less well documented than that of most others. However, it shares with those the same secrecy when it comes to its technical catalog. Regardless of the specifics of its inception, the wider diffusion of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu only began rather recently, when in the late 19th century, Takeda Sokaku started to teach seminars across Japan. It wasn’t until his son Tokimune took over as headmaster that a more-or-less standardized Hiden Mokuroku curriculum (Even though they share the same name, this is not to be confused with the hiden mokuroku scroll, as the two are quite distinct in contents and articulation) came to be formulated and publicized to some extent. In spite of this effort, the nature of the technical progression in Daito-ryu, and the considerable time necessary to master its arcane make it so that only few practitioners are ever exposed to its deep teachings. Thus, beyond the basic level covered by Tokimune's Hiden Mokuroku, which includes over 100 techniques, there are relatively few documents that describe the higher level material.